GII 2023 results
The GII unveils the world’s
innovation leaders, gauging
the innovation performance of
132 economies.

48

Figure 10 Key global innovation changers 2023
The GII dynamo: The top 15 innovators, 2020–2023
Switzerland ranks firstin the GII for a
13th consecutive year.

r
tze

i
Sw

2023

1

d
lan

Sweden (2nd)overtakes theUnited States.

en
ed
Sw

d
ite
Un

2

3

Singaporeenters the
top 5.

Finland (6th)moves up closer
to the top 5.

om
gd
n
re
i
d
po
dK
ga
lan
ite
n
i
n
S
Fin
U

er
th
Ne

4

7

tes
Sta

5

6

France (11th) gets closer tothe top 10, after breaking
into the top 15 in 2020.

a
re
Ko
f
k
y
co
ar
an
bli
ce
nm
pu
rm
an
e
e
e
D
R
Fr
G

ds
lan

8

9

10

11

China (12th) is the only middle
income economy within the
top 30, and close to the top 10.

ina
Ch

an
Jap

l
ae
Isr

12

13

14

Israel moves
back into the
top 15.

da
na
Ca

15

Hong Kong,
China

2022

2021

Ireland

Global Innovation Index 2023

2020

2019

Source: Global Innovation Index Database, WIPO, 2023.
Note: Year-on-year comparisons of GII rankings need to take into account changes to the GII model that have occurred over time, as well as data availability.



Figure 10 Continued
Breaking barriers:
Economies soaring to new heights in innovation, 2023

Top

60

Top

70

North Macedonia(54th) andSouth Africa (59th)
make it into the
top 60.

Georgia (65th),
Bahrain (67th),
Mongolia (68th)
and Oman (69th)
join the top 70.

Top

40

Top

50

Saudi Arabia(48th), Brazil (49th)and Qatar (50th)
make it into to the
top 50.

Latvia (37th)
makes itinto top 40.

Top climbers of the decade, 2013–2023

62nd 612023

st

Top 60Indonesia

Top 70
Iran (Islamic
Republic of)2013

113th 90th

Top 90Philippines

Other
Iran (Islamic
Republic of)

56th 46th

Top 60Philippines

Top 50Viet Nam

85th 76th

Top 80Viet Nam

Top 90Indonesia

Top

20

Top

30

Norway (19th)
makes it into the
top 20 in 2023.

Portugal (30th)
joins the top 30.

40th 39

12th

68th 66

35th

th

Top 40India

Top 40Türkiyeth

Top 70TürkiyeTop 70India

49

Top 15
China

Top 40China

Group of middleincome economies
within the GII top 65,
which climbed fastest
in the ranks over thelast decade.

Standout economies’ 4-year innovation surge, 2019–2023

PakistanIndonesia

57th 49
Mauritius

Brazil

48th

Saudi Arabia

In the last four years, and since the start of the pandemic, Mauritius,Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Pakistan ascended the most(in order of their rank progression).

Source: Global Innovation Index Database, WIPO, 2023.
Note: Year-on-year comparisons of GII rankings need to take into account changes to the GII model that have occurred over time, as well as data availability.

Global Innovation Index 2023

88th 61

st

th

50

This section presents the highlights of the Global Innovation Index 2023 (GII) ranking, including
a discussion on the top ranked economies by income group and world region, as well as
identifying those economies overperforming on innovation relative to level of development.
Appendix I provides details on how to interpret the results, cautioning against a strict year-onyear comparison of GII rankings.
It is important to note that the GII 2023 is unique, because it incorporates a significant amountof data from the pandemic and post-pandemic years. Approximately 88 percent of the data
points used to construct the GII 2023 rankings cover the 2020–2023 period. Specifically,a majority of the data points are from 2021 (34 percent) and 2022 data (35 percent). Thisextensive use of COVID-19 pandemic-era data, together with the associated country-specificpolicy responses, including differences in lockdown and reopening periods, as well as the more
recent impacts of armed conflict in Ukraine, has multifaceted effects on the rankings, so also
the related country-specific swings in gross domestic product (GDP) – the scaling factor for anumber of variables. These factors need to be considered carefully when evaluating GII 2023
rank shifts.

Innovation leaders in 2023
Switzerland continues to be the uncontested innovation world champion, Singapore makes
the top five, and Indonesia joins China, Türkiye, India, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Viet
Nam as most impressive innovation climbers of the last decade
For a 13th consecutive year, Switzerland ranks first in the GII (Figure 10). It is the global leader
in innovation outputs, ranking first in both Knowledge and technology outputs and Creative
outputs. Sweden overtakes the United States (US) to climb to second position. Sweden leads in
Business sophistication (1st), Infrastructure (2nd) and Human capital and research (3rd). It holds
top positions for its Researchers (1st) and its Knowledge-intensive employment (3rd). The UnitedStates continues to head the league table of scoring best in the world in 13 of the 80 GII 2023
innovation indicators (Box 1). It is number one in the world in indicators that include Global
corporate R&D investors, Venture capital received, the quality of its universities, the combined
valuation of its unicorn companies (a new GII indicator – Box 3), software spending and thevalue of corporate Intangible asset intensity.
Singapore enters the top five, and takes the leading position among South East Asia, East Asiaand Oceania (SEAO) region economies. Finland (6th) gets closer to the top five, gaining threeranks this year. It comes top worldwide in Infrastructure (1st).
Denmark (9th) and the Republic of Korea (10th) remain in the top 10. France (11th) gets closer,
improving one rank this year, while Japan remains strong as the 13th most innovative economy.
Israel re-enters the top 15, reaching 14th place.

Global Innovation Index 2023

After a rapid ascent, gaining 23 positions over the last decade, China ranks 12th this year,
dropping one rank relative to 2022.1 China remains the sole middle-income economy to secure
a position among the top 30, retaining 3rd place in the SEAO region and top spot in the upper
middle-income group (see Figure 11 and Table 3). Belgium (23rd) re-enters the top 25, climbing
three ranks.
All eight Nordic and Baltic economies improved their ranking this year, except for Iceland, whichstays at 20th spot. Estonia gains two ranks and edges the top 15, at 16th place. Norway (19th) reenters the top 20. Lithuania (34th) and Latvia (37th) make the largest improvements, gaining fiveand four ranks respectively, with Latvia re-entering the top 40.
Apart from China, there are only four other middle-income economies among the top 40
economies, namely, Malaysia (36th), Bulgaria (38th), Türkiye (39th) and India (40th).
The United Arab Emirates stabilizes at 32nd place, close to the top 30. Saudi Arabia (48th) and
Qatar (50th) make it into the top 50. Middle East economies Bahrain (67th), Oman (69th), Jordan(71st) and Egypt (86th) also experience notable improvements in their innovation ranking –with Bahrain and Oman entering the top 70, and Jordan just outside. In sum, these are somesystematic and positive innovation rank developments in the Middle East.



51

Brazil (49th) makes it into the top 50 in 2023, following a gradual ascent over recent years,
overtaking Chile (52nd) as the most innovative economy in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Uruguay (63rd) and El Salvador (95th) are the only two other economies within the region that
improve their ranking in 2023.
Thailand (43rd) and Viet Nam (46th) consolidate their positions in the top 50, while the Philippines(56th) gets closer. Viet Nam and the Philippines continue marching forward, after a setback
in 2022, gaining two and three ranks, respectively. Indonesia (61st) moves rapidly toward the
top 60, following a rise over recent years. Together with China, India, the Islamic Republic of
Iran (62nd), the Philippines, Türkiye and Viet Nam, Indonesia joins the group of middle-income
economies within the GII top 65 that climbed fastest in the GII ranking over the last decade.
In the last four years, and since the start of the pandemic, Mauritius (57th), Indonesia, Saudi
Arabia, Brazil and Pakistan ascended most in the GII, in order of their rank progression.
In Central and Southern Asia, Kazakhstan (81st) and Uzbekistan (82nd) are close to the top 80,
while Pakistan (88th) follows closely, the latter overperforming on innovation once again in 2023.
Nine out of the 26 economies from Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) covered this year improve theirranking. South Africa (59th) enters the top 60. Rwanda (103rd and low-income group leader)
continues moving ahead. Senegal (93rd) and Nigeria (109th) take two of the biggest leaps forward.
Excluding island economies, Senegal becomes the region’s third most innovative economy in2023 (see Figure 11).

Figure 11 Global innovation leaders in 2023
Top three innovation economies by region
Europe1. Switzerland
2. Sweden
3. United Kingdom
South East Asia,
East Asia, and Oceania
1. Singapore
2. Republic of Korea
3. China

Northern America

Latin America
and the Caribbean

1. United States
2. Canada

Central and Southern Asia

1. Brazil
2. Chile
3. Mexico

Northern Africa
and Western Asia†

1. India
2. Iran (Islamic Republic of)
3. Kazakhstan

Sub-Saharan Africa*

1. Israel
2. United Arab Emirates
3. Türkiye

1. South Africa
2. Botswana
3. Senegal

Top three innovation economies by income group
High-income
1. Switzerland
2. Sweden
3. United States

Upper middle-income

Lower middle-income

1. China
2. Malaysia
3. Bulgaria

1. India
2. Viet Nam
3. Ukraine

Low-income group
1. Rwanda
2. Madagascar
3. TogoIndicates a new entrant into the top three in 2023.
Top three in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) – excluding island economies. The top five within the region, including all
economies, comprise Mauritius (1st), South Africa (2nd), Botswana (3rd), Cabo Verde (4th) and Senegal (5th).

†

Top three in Northern Africa and Western Asia (NAWA) – excluding island economies. The top four within the region,
including all economies, comprise Israel (1st), Cyprus (2nd), United Arab Emirates (3rd) and Türkiye (4th).

Source: Global Innovation Index Database, WIPO, 2023.
Notes: World Bank Income Group Classification (July 2022). Year-on-year GII rank changes are influenced by performanceand methodological considerations; some economy data are incomplete (see Appendix I).

Global Innovation Index 2023

Indicates movement in ranking (up or down) within the top three, relative to 2022.
*

52

Box 1 GII innovation indicators – 2023 trailblazers
The United States continues to lead in terms of number of GII innovation indicators for which it
ranks top globally, ranking 1st in the world on 13 out of 80 indicators in 2023.
Singapore follows the United States globally and is number one worldwide on 11 indicators,
the same amount as in 2022, including leading in Operational stability for businesses,
Government effectiveness, ICT access, Logistics performance, Venture capital received, Hightech manufacturing, and GitHub commits. Israel follows in 3rd place, leading in nine innovation
indicators, including R&D expenditure, University–industry R&D collaboration, PCT patents and
ICT services exports. Switzerland and Hong Kong, China, tie jointly in 4th place, attaining top
ranking in Patent families and High-tech imports, respectively. They are followed by Japan in 6thplace, leading in Production and export complexity.
In addition to the top winners globally, there are middle- and low-income economies excellingin various domains. Relative to other countries and to its GDP or population, Namibia ranks 1stin Expenditure on education, Mozambique in Gross capital formation, and Cambodia and Nepal
in Loans from microfinance institutions. Relatively, Mauritius leads globally in Venture capital
investors, the Islamic Republic of Iran in Trademarks and Mongolia in Trademarks, as well as
Industrial designs.
Box Table 1 Economies with the most GII indicators ranked top, 2023
EconomyUnited States
Singapore
IsraelSwitzerland
Hong Kong, China
Japan
China
IcelandMalta
Finland
Estonia
Luxembourg

Innovation indicators that economies score best in worldwide
Inputs
Outputs
Total
6
8
6
4
5
4
2
2
3
3
4
4

7
3
3
4
3
3
4
4
3
2
1
1

13
11
9
8
8
7
6
6
6
5
5
5

Source: Global Innovation Index Database, WIPO, 2023.
Note: The GII methodology allows multiple economies to rank 1st on any one indicator; see Economy profiles andAppendix I.

Mongolia (68th) and Egypt (86th) both improve their position by three places, while Senegal (93rd)
gains six places.

Global Innovation Index 2023

Beyond the top 100, Rwanda (103rd), Nepal (108th), Nigeria (109 th) and Togo (114th) haveprogressed the most in the rankings, increasing between two and eight positions thisyear. Rwanda performs exceptionally well in Institutions (33rd) and holds top ranks inLabor productivity growth (2nd), Policies for doing business (11th), Graduates in science andengineering (15th) and Venture capital recipients (20 th). Rwanda also maintains 1st position
among the low-income group, while Madagascar (107th) and Togo (114th) claim 2nd and3rd position, respectively (Table 3).

Table 3 Top 10 economies by income group (rank)
Rank Global Innovation Index 2023

Rank Global Innovation Index 2023

High-income economies (48 in total)

Upper middle-income economies (36 in total)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Switzerland (1)Sweden (2)United States (3)United Kingdom (4)Singapore (5)Finland (6)Netherlands (Kingdom of the) (7)Germany (8)Denmark (9)Republic of Korea (10)Lower middle-income economies (37 in total)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

India (40)Viet Nam (46)
Ukraine (55)Philippines (56)Indonesia (61)Iran (Islamic Republic of) (62)Mongolia (68)
Morocco (70)
Tunisia (79)Uzbekistan (82)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10



53

China (12)Malaysia (36)
Bulgaria (38)
Türkiye (39)Thailand (43)Brazil (49)
Russian Federation (51)Serbia (53)North Macedonia (54)
Mauritius (57)

Low-income economies (12 in total)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Rwanda (103)Madagascar (107)Togo (114)
Zambia (118)
Uganda (121)
Burkina Faso (124)
Ethiopia (125)Mozambique (126)
Guinea (128)Mali (129)

Source: Global Innovation Index Database, WIPO, 2023.

Box 2 outlines important ‘dos and don’ts’, when using the GII to improve an economy’s
innovation performance.

Box 2 How to best use the Global Innovation Index (GII) and what not to do?
For many years, governments around the world have successfully used the Global Innovation
Index (GII) to improve their economy’s innovation performance and shape evidence-based
innovation policies. A survey carried out by WIPO in 2022 showed 70 percent of WIPO member
states were using the GII to improve innovation ecosystems and metrics, as well as it being abenchmark for national innovation policies or economic strategies. It is heartening to see that
the GII is being used by a wide range of economies, from low- to high-income, across every oneof the world’s regions.

Some dos:– Ensure innovation is embedded as a key priority in a country’s pathway to national
development and progress, possibly formulated within a clear innovation policy.
– Establish a cross-ministerial task force to pursue innovation policy matters through a “wholeof government approach,” ideally reporting to the top tier of government, for instance, thePrime Minister’s Office.
– Ensure any innovation policy task force consults with innovation actors from both the private
and public sectors, including start-ups, research universities and innovation clusters. The
private sector, in particular, is key, as is broad representation from manufacturing, services
and traditional industries, as well as diverse entrepreneurial strands.
– Ensure any national intellectual property (IP) policy is aligned with or even integrated into
innovation policy.
– Ensure those targets or actions that are part of an innovation policy are quantifiable and canbe evaluated.

Global Innovation Index 2023

One major benefit of the GII is that it puts evidence and metrics at the core of conceiving,
deploying and evaluating innovation policies. A first step brings together statisticians,
innovation actors and policymakers in order to understand a country’s innovation
performance, based on the GII metrics. In a second step, the policy discussion turns toleveraging domestic innovation opportunities, while at the same time overcoming countryspecific weaknesses. Both steps are an exercise in coordination among different public andprivate innovation actors, as well as between government entities. In select countries, the GII
has facilitated just such a dialogue across innovation actors and government entities.

54

Some don’ts:– Do not set over-ambitious and therefore unrealistic GII ranking targets. GII rankings rarely
increase in leaps and bounds from one year to the next, particularly at the top.
– Do not expect policy changes to result in immediate improved GII indicator performance. There
are important lags between the formulation of innovation policy and its execution and impact.
The latest available innovation data is also rarely current, often lagging by several years.
– Do not treat the GII as a mathematical exercise, that is, by attempting to collect or focus on
specific indicators simply to climb the rankings. A country’s GII rank alone is only a partialreflection of a national innovation ecosystem and related progress. Moreover, the GII
framework changes regularly. Do not therefore over focus on year-on-year changes within theGII, because these are influenced by relative performance vis-à-vis other countries, together
with other methodological considerations (see Appendix I). Setting objectives for a period ofyears – for example, three to five years – and then reviewing combined progress over several
years is a more appropriate way of using the GII.
With this in mind, the GII has become a catalyst for the national collection of innovation
indicators. Economies have an interest in ensuring the GII can rely on the complete andupdated innovation metrics they provide. As detailed in Appendix III, the vast majority of GII
data is not collected by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) itself directly fromits member states. Instead, WIPO uses data submitted by economies to those organizations
globally responsible for a particular data collection (e.g., the UNESCO Institute for Statistics
for data relating to R&D). The sole exception is the intellectual property data WIPO collects
annually from members states. 2 For all other data sets, the GII team is able to help countries
identify missing and outdated data (marked clearly in the economy profiles and briefs) andadvise data collectors on how to remedy the situation.
Finally, a new trend is the interest being expressed by countries in building sub-nationalinnovation indices at the regional or city level that mirror the GII framework or compriseselected GII indicators (WIPO, 2023a). WIPO has pledged to support this work in two ways:(i) by organizing workshops on the exchange of best practice, and (ii) providing a backgroundstudy on sub-national innovation indices. 3 Member states are welcome to join this effort.

Innovation overperformers
Several middle- and low-income economies are performing above expectation on innovation
relative to their level of economic development
In the GII 2023, 21 economies are performing above expectation relative to their level ofdevelopment – these are the GII innovation overperformers (Figure 12 and Table 4).
India, the Republic of Moldova and Viet Nam continue to be record holders by being innovation
overperformers for a 13th consecutive year. The Republic of Moldova (60th) scores above its
income level in Human capital and research (67th), as well as both output pillars – Knowledge andtechnology outputs (60th) and Creative outputs (42nd). The Philippines (56th) and Morocco (70th)
keep their innovation overperformer status for a fifth time.

Global Innovation Index 2023

There are also two notable comebacks this year, namely, Senegal (93rd) and North Macedonia(54th). In addition, Indonesia (61st), Uzbekistan (82nd) and Pakistan (88th) keep their overperformer
status for a second and Brazil (49th) for a third consecutive year.
From a regional perspective, this year there is an equal number of innovation overperformers
in South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania, and Sub-Saharan Africa, each region having fiveinnovation overperformers. Tying in 3rd place, with three overperforming economies each, areEurope, Central and Southern Asia, and Northern Africa and Western Asia. In 6th place is Latin
America and the Caribbean, with two innovation overperformers.
Conversely, 37 economies are performing below expectation on innovation, the majority from
Latin America and the Caribbean (11) and Sub-Saharan Africa (9). Among the high-income group,
three are Eastern European economies, namely, Poland (41st), Slovakia (45th) and Romania (47th).

In the upper middle-income group, the six underperformers are Latin American and Caribbean
economies Argentina (73rd), Costa Rica (74th), the Dominican Republic (94th), Paraguay (98th),
Ecuador (104th) and Guatemala (122nd). All six of these economies also drop down the GII ranking
in 2023. In the lower middle-income group, nine economies are performing below expectation
for their level of development, including Sub-Saharan African economies Côte d’Ivoire (112th),
Benin (120th), Cameroon (123rd), Mauritania (127th) and Angola (132nd).



55

Relative to 2022, 23 economies have switched performance groups. Seven economies haveraised their performance status from below expectation to matching expectation, namely,
Lithuania (34th), Greece (42nd), Egypt (86th), El Salvador (95th), Namibia (96th), Nigeria (109th) andZambia (118th).
Figure 12 Innovation overperformers, relative to their economic development

GII score

60

40
Thailand

India

Viet Nam
UkrainePhilippines
Indonesia

BrazilNorth Macedonia
South Africa
Republic of Moldova

Mongolia
MoroccoTunisia
JordanUzbekistan
Jamaica
Pakistan
Senegal20

RwandaMadagascar

Burundi

8

9

10

11

GDP per capita (PPP$ logarithmic scale)
Performing above expectation for level of development
Source: Global Innovation Index Database, WIPO, 2023.
Note: Bubbles sized according to population. The cubic spline trendline shows the expected level of innovation
performance at different levels of GDP per capita for all economies covered in the GII 2023.

12
Global Innovation Index 2023

7

56

Table 4 Innovation overperformers in 2023: Income group, region and years as aninnovation overperformer
EconomyIncome group

RegionYears as an innovation
overperformer (total)

India
Republic of Moldova
Viet Nam
Mongolia
RwandaUkraineThailandJordanMadagascar
SenegalSouth Africa
MoroccoPhilippines
Tunisia
BurundiBrazilJamaica
North Macedonia
Indonesia
PakistanUzbekistan

Lower middle-income
Upper middle-income
Lower middle-income
Lower middle-income
Low-income
Lower middle-income
Upper middle-income
Upper middle-income
Low-income
Lower middle-income
Upper middle-income
Lower middle-income
Lower middle-income
Lower middle-income
Low-income
Upper middle-income
Upper middle-income
Upper middle-income
Lower middle-income
Lower middle-income
Lower middle-income

Central and Southern Asia
EuropeSouth East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania
South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania
Sub-Saharan Africa
EuropeSouth East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania
Northern Africa and Western Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Northern Africa and Western Asia
South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania
Northern Africa and Western Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Latin America and the Caribbean
Latin America and the Caribbean
EuropeSouth East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania
Central and Southern Asia
Central and Southern Asia

2011–2023 (13)2011–2023 (13)2011–2023 (13)2011–2015, 2018–2023 (11)2012, 2014–2023 (11)2012, 2014–2023 (11)2011, 2014–2015, 2018–2023 (9)2011–2015, 2022–2023 (7)2016–2018, 2020–2023 (7)2012–2015, 2017, 2023 (6)2018–2023 (6)2015, 2020–2023 (5)2019, 2020–2023 (5)2018, 2020–2023 (5)2017, 2019, 2022–2023 (4)2021–2023 (3)2020, 2022–2023 (3)2019–2020, 2023 (3)2022–2023 (2)2022–2023 (2)2022–2023 (2)Source: Global Innovation Index Database, WIPO, 2023.
Notes: Income group classification follows the World Bank Income Group Classification (July, 2022). Geographical regions
correspond to the United Nations publication on standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49).

Converting innovation investment into tangible innovation output
Several middle-income economies are more efficient at translating innovation inputs into
outputs than their high-income counterparts
Among high-income economies, Switzerland leads (1st) in producing higher levels of outputs
compared to Sweden (2nd), the United States (3rd) and Finland (6th), while Germany (8th) produces
similar output levels to the United States and the Kingdom of the Netherlands (7th), but withlower input levels (Figure 13).
Among upper middle-income group economies, China (12th) also shines, producing levelsof outputs comparable to high-income economies like Singapore (5th), Denmark (9th) andFrance (11th), but with fewer inputs. Türkiye (39th) does likewise relative to New Zealand (27th) and
Hungary (35th).
Among the lower-middle income group, Morocco (70th) and Pakistan (88th) are efficientinnovators, while Madagascar (107th) stands out among the low-income group.
However, certain economies, including the United Arab Emirates (32nd), Saudi Arabia (48th),
Qatar (50th), Serbia (53rd), Bahrain (67th), Peru (76th), and Cabo Verde (91st), struggle to translate
inputs into outputs, affecting their overall innovation performance.

Global Innovation Index 2023

This year, Canada (15th), Norway (19th) and Uzbekistan (82nd) have improved in converting inputs
into outputs, no longer underperforming on this metric.

Figure 13 Innovation input to output performance, 2023

57

70
Switzerland

United Kingdom
Netherlands (Kingdom of the)Germany56

China

Republic of Korea

Singapore

Malta
Italy
Cyprus42

Hong Kong, China
Australia

Output score

TürkiyeBulgaria

UkraineIran (Islamic Republic of)
Republic of Moldova

28

MexicoUnited Arab Emirates

MoroccoTunisia

SerbiaPakistan

Madagascar

Kazakhstan
Albania
Zimbabwe

14

Saudi Arabia
Qatar

Mauritius
Georgia
Montenegro
Peru

BahrainAzerbaijan
Kyrgyzstan
RwandaNamibia
Botswana
Cabo Verde
Brunei Darussalam

0

15

25

35

45

55

65

75

Input score
Eﬃcient

Ineﬃcient

Not labeled

Fitted line

Global Innovation Index 2023

Source: Global Innovation Index Database, WIPO, 2023.

58

Table 5 Heatmap: GII 2023 rankings overall and by innovation pillar, 2023

Global Innovation Index 2023

Country/economy
Switzerland
SwedenUnited States
United Kingdom
Singapore
FinlandNetherlands (Kingdom of the)Germany
Denmark
Republic of Korea
FranceChina
Japan
IsraelCanadaEstonia
Hong Kong, China
Austria
NorwayIceland
Luxembourg
Ireland
Belgium
Australia
Malta
Italy
New Zealand
CyprusSpain
Portugal
Czech Republic
United Arab Emirates
Slovenia
Lithuania
Hungary
Malaysia
LatviaBulgaria
Türkiye
India
PolandGreeceThailandCroatia
Slovakia
Viet Nam
Romania
Saudi Arabia
BrazilQatar
Russian Federation
Chile
SerbiaNorth Macedonia
UkrainePhilippines
Mauritius
MexicoSouth Africa
Republic of Moldova
Indonesia
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Uruguay
KuwaitGeorgia
Colombia

Overall GII

Institutions

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66

2
18
16
24
1
3
6
22
5
32
27
43
21
40
14
11
8
13
4
9
7
15
30
17
34
52
12
41
46
35
36
10
38
19
47
29
39
66
105
56
76
63
85
72
65
54
74
45
99
23
110
49
57
75
100
79
26
111
88
96
70
131
31
86
25
78

1th quartile (best performers, ranks 1st to 33rd)

Human
capital andMarketBusinessresearch Infrastructure sophistication sophistication
6
3
12
8
2
5
13
4
9
1
17
22
18
20
10
34
15
11
19
24
31
28
14
7
39
33
21
38
27
23
30
16
25
42
36
32
43
66
41
48
40
29
74
44
53
71
75
35
56
54
26
58
51
78
47
88
64
63
84
67
85
60
83
55
69
81

2rd quartile (ranks 34th to 66th)

4
2
25
6
8
1
14
23
3
11
22
27
13
36
30
5
9
12
7
10
31
18
44
19
17
21
29
32
16
45
24
15
20
43
42
51
33
28
50
84
47
38
49
26
41
70
34
48
58
39
72
52
35
40
77
86
74
65
68
75
69
97
57
46
80
60

7
10
1
3
6
12
15
14
21
23
9
13
8
11
4
5
2
39
29
32
35
51
26
17
43
40
31
38
33
42
82
25
68
34
64
18
61
60
36
20
67
66
22
48
72
49
75
28
50
44
56
47
41
30
104
55
24
57
45
76
37
19
86
62
77
73

3nd quartile (ranks 67th to 99th)

5
1
2
13
3
4
8
16
12
9
17
20
11
6
18
25
28
19
22
15
7
14
10
24
21
33
29
31
32
34
27
23
26
35
30
36
37
42
46
57
41
62
43
53
47
49
51
45
39
73
44
55
68
60
48
38
91
79
61
101
77
117
59
103
58
40

Knowledge
andtechnology
outputs
1
3
2
7
10
4
8
9
12
11
16
6
13
5
19
20
51
17
28
25
38
14
15
30
36
18
39
23
24
32
21
59
27
29
26
37
49
34
44
22
40
43
42
33
31
48
35
68
52
82
54
58
41
53
45
46
90
57
56
60
61
55
66
73
72
62

Creative
outputs
1
8
12
2
18
16
9
7
10
5
6
14
25
33
22
15
3
13
23
20
11
26
30
24
4
21
28
17
29
19
32
50
48
41
38
47
31
34
27
49
35
39
44
52
56
36
58
66
46
65
53
59
92
69
37
60
57
45
63
42
68
43
78
64
81
80

4st quartile (ranks 100th to 132nd)



Table 5 Continued

BahrainMongolia
Oman
MoroccoJordanArmenia
Argentina
Costa Rica
Montenegro
Peru
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Jamaica
Tunisia
Belarus
Kazakhstan
Uzbekistan
Albania
PanamaBotswana
Egypt
Brunei Darussalam
PakistanAzerbaijan
Sri Lanka
Cabo Verde
LebanonSenegal
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Namibia
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)Paraguay
Ghana
Kenya
Cambodia
Trinidad and Tobago
RwandaEcuadorBangladesh
Kyrgyzstan
Madagascar
Nepal
Nigeria
Lao People’s Democratic Republic
Tajikistan
Côte d’Ivoire
United Republic of Tanzania
Togo
Nicaragua
Honduras
Zimbabwe
ZambiaAlgeria
Benin
UgandaGuatemalaCameroon
Burkina Faso
Ethiopia
Mozambique
Mauritania
GuineaMali
BurundiNiger
AngolaOverall GII
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132

1th quartile (best performers, ranks 1st to 33rd)

Institutions
28
80
62
83
51
69
123
48
82
81
104
53
107
128
61
55
60
77
37
103
20
113
42
124
44
125
59
67
101
50
132
112
93
84
87
68
33
109
108
122
121
114
115
95
90
71
73
102
127
126
130
119
97
58
64
120
91
92
116
129
89
98
117
106
94
118

77
65
52
86
82
92
70
79
62
50
68
91
46
37
59
89
96
103
73
95
57
117
87
110
97
72
107
109
106
76
61
129
105
118
101
45
94
98
125
49
102
123
80
115
99
128
126
111
120
90
104
93
113
114
124
122
112
108
131
116
119
132
121
100
130
127

2rd quartile (ranks 34th to 66th)

Source: Global Innovation Index Database, WIPO, 2023.

37
81
61
94
87
79
66
62
56
63
67
91
89
71
59
73
53
55
85
90
54
120
95
82
64
96
98
76
99
100
104
83
105
107
108
88
101
78
93
92
131
110
123
109
122
106
115
117
113
112
119
111
102
114
116
118
130
121
132
103
124
127
128
126
125
129

78
101
74
80
53
89
92
90
54
52
27
109
98
99
87
69
93
102
70
88
105
97
85
106
96
46
81
91
95
84
16
79
117
108
59
124
115
103
100
71
113
63
127
65
94
123
83
111
58
107
121
110
125
118
128
112
129
116
114
122
130
132
126
131
120
119

3nd quartile (ranks 67th to 99th)

92
67
95
107
70
94
54
63
66
52
106
69
119
74
75
78
50
124
56
100
80
72
64
71
65
76
122
86
85
99
81
87
83
84
125
113
109
90
126
114
123
89
82
102
110
96
105
131
97
104
112
98
120
111
118
93
88
128
130
129
108
127
115
121
116
132

Knowledge
andtechnology
outputs
74
88
75
65
76
67
79
70
80
101
64
92
50
47
83
78
91
87
117
77
126
69
114
71
98
86
63
95
94
123
106
109
111
81
93
103
100
102
89
96
121
110
124
97
85
118
119
108
122
107
113
130
128
116
105
99
104
112
84
127
115
125
120
131
129
132

Creative
outputs
98
40
79
55
75
61
51
89
85
74
91
54
72
88
90
93
87
67
106
73
127
70
100
83
108
96
113
94
77
104
102
76
71
95
103
109
117
99
82
116
62
101
84
124
123
97
120
105
111
114
86
112
107
129
122
119
118
130
126
115
131
110
128
125
132
121

4st quartile (ranks 100th to 132nd)

Global Innovation Index 2023

Country/economy

Humancapital andMarketBusinessresearch Infrastructure sophistication sophistication

59

60

Box 3 Who leads on unicorns?
A unicorn company is a privately held startup valued at over USD 1 billion.4 Unicorn companies
exhibit rapid growth. They often disrupt industries by introducing innovative products, services
or business models that have the potential to reshape entire sectors.
This 2023 edition of the GII includes a new indicator showing the combined valuation of acountry’s unicorn companies (6.2.2 Unicorn valuation, % GDP; see Appendix III).
According to CBInsights’ Tracker of Unicorn companies, as of April 2023, there were 1,206
unicorn companies located in 50 different countries globally.5 According to a simple count,
only five economies host 80 percent of all the world’s unicorns, namely, the United States(54 percent), China (14 percent), India (6 percent), the United Kingdom (4 percent) and Germany(2 percent). Out of a total unicorn valuation of USD 3.8 trillion in 2023, US unicorns account of
USD 2 trillion – a huge lead – followed by China at USD 736 billion and India at USD 193 billion.
Of the top 25 most valuable unicorn companies and their origin, China comes first, with
ByteDance (1st, artificial intelligence), followed by SHEIN (3rd, e-commerce) and Xiaohongshu(12th, e-commerce). The United States follows, with SpaceX (2nd, space and telecommunications),
Stripe (4th, fintech) and Epic Games (7th, videogames). Australia has Canva (5th, graphic designand software) and Indonesia has J&T Express (13th, logistics and delivery).
In the GII, the cumulative value of unicorns is scaled by GDP. After scaling, five economies
tie in first place, namely, Estonia, Israel, Lithuania, Senegal and the United States. Estonia
leads with Bolt (auto and transportation), Israel with Wiz (cybersecurity), Lithuania has Vinted(e-commerce) and Senegal leads with Wave (fintech). These five top hubs for unicorns arefollowed by Hong Kong, China (6th), the United Kingdom (7th), Singapore (8th), India (9 th) andFinland (10 th).
Plotting an economy’s level of development against the cumulative value of its unicorn
companies shows whether it is overperforming relative to level of development. In the figure
below, most economies in the upper-right quadrant are in the high-income group. The lowerright quadrant also contains high-income economies – largely European – but with a lower
concentration of unicorn companies.
Box Figure 1 Unicorn valuation by level of economic development, 2023
Cumulative valuation of unicorn companies in USD billion, logarithmic scale

Global Innovation Index 2023

3.5
United States
3

China

2.5
India

United Kingdom

2

1.5

Indonesia

1

Colombia
Viet Nam

0.5

0Senegal3South Africa
EcuadorEgypt Philippines

Nigeria

Germany
IsraelFranceAustralia
CanadaBrazilRepublic of Korea
Sweden Netherlands (Kingdom of the)Hong Kong, China
MexicoSingapore
Seychelles
Finland
TürkiyeIreland
Estonia Japan
Belgium
Switzerland
Austria
Denmark
Lithuania Spain
NorwayUnited Arab
Thailand Croatia
GreeceEmirates
Chile
Argentina
Luxembourg
Italy
Malaysia
Czech Republic

3.5

4

4.5

5

GDP per capita, logarithmic scale
Middle-income economies with high concentrationof unicorn companies for level of development

High income economies with high concentrationof unicorn companies

Source: Authors, based on CBInsights, 2023 and IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2023.

5.5

The economies in the left-hand quadrants are the most interesting cases. Upper-left, middleincome economies China, India and Brazil shine, having a high concentration of unicorn companies
relative to their level of development. Lower left are those middle- and low-income economies
hosting unicorn companies, even when their valuation is relatively lower. Latin American economies
are the most represented, comprising Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico, with leading
unicorns Kavak (Mexico, e-commerce), Rappi (Colombia, supply chain) and Uala (Argentina, fintech).

61Innovation leaders (top 25) demonstrate balanced and strong performance across all sevenpillars. They include France (11th), Japan (13th), Canada (15th), Norway (19th), Iceland (20th) andAustralia (24th) (Table 5). Some lower-ranked economies excel in specific innovation pillars,such as Georgia and Rwanda in Institutions (25th and 33rd, respectively), Trinidad and Tobago
in Human capital and research (45th), Croatia (44th) in Infrastructure (26th), and Malaysia andThailand in Market sophistication (18th and 22nd, respectively). India and Slovakia excel in
Knowledge and technology outputs (22nd and 31st, respectively), while Türkiye and Latvia shine
in Creative outputs (27th and 31st, respectively). These examples showcase the diverse strengthsof economies vibrant in innovation, which can be nurtured to enhance their overall rankings.

Innovation across the world’s regions
South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania continues to narrow the gap with Europe, while
Central and Southern Asia is getting closer to Latin America and the Caribbean
For yet another year, there are no changes in the rankings of the world’s regions, based on an
unweighted average GII score of all economies within a region. Northern America and Europe
continue to lead, followed by South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania (SEAO). Northern Africa andWestern Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Southern Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa,
follow more distantly. However, this year, the distance dividing economies in the SEAO region fromthose in Europe is on average no more than four GII score points, while economies in Central andSouthern Asia are narrowing the gap between them and those in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Northern America
Largely driven by the United States, Northern America, comprising the United States and Canada,
is the most innovative world region. Canada performs best in Market sophistication (4th), Human
capital and research (10th) and Institutions (14th). It continues to lead in indicators Venture capital
recipients (1st), the impact of its scientific publications (H-Index, 4th) and Software spending (5th).
EuropeEurope still hosts the highest number of innovation leaders among the top 25 – 16 in total,
one more than in 2022. Out of 39 European economies covered, 19 move up the rankings
this year (seven more than last year), namely, Sweden (2nd), Finland (6th), Denmark (9th),
France (11th), Estonia (16th), Norway (19th), Ireland (22nd), Belgium (23rd), Italy (26th), Portugal (30th),
Lithuania (34th), Latvia (37th), Greece (42nd), Slovakia (45th), Romania (47th), Serbia (53rd), North
Macedonia (54th), Ukraine (55th) and Albania (83rd).
Among economies improving, France excels in Intangible assets (3rd ), Global brands (4th),
Industrial designs (8th) and Global corporate R&D investors (9th). Top companies like LVMH, L’Oreal
and Christian Dior are contributing to its success. Belgium is performing well in R&D expenditure(6th), Researchers (8th) and University–industry R&D collaboration (9th). Serbia approaches the top
50 with a strong performance in FDI inflows (11th) and Labor productivity growth (14th).

South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania
The difference in GII scores between the South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania (SEAO) region
and Europe continues to diminish. Six SEAO economies are world innovation leaders, namely,
Singapore (5th), the Republic of Korea (10th), China (12th), Japan (13th), Hong Kong, China (17th)and Australia (24th). These six economies continue to lead in key innovation indicators. Chinaleads globally (1st) in Labor productivity growth, Japan in Production and export complexity, theRepublic of Korea in PCT patents, Australia in School life expectancy, Hong Kong, China in Global
brand value and Singapore in Venture capital received.

Global Innovation Index 2023

This year, the Nordic and Baltic economies have made notable progress.

62

Eight economies within the SEAO region improve their rankings this year, with Indonesia (61st) making
the greatest advance. Indonesia makes marked improvements in innovation outputs, notably in
Knowledge creation and Online creativity. It excels in ICT-related indicators and ranks among the
top 10 globally for University–industry R&D collaboration (5th), State of cluster development (5th),
Entrepreneurship policies and culture (5th) and Finance for startups and scaleups (8th).
Mongolia (68th), Brunei Darussalam (87th) and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (110th) also
move up the rankings.
Central and Southern Asia
Within Central and Southern Asia, India continues to lead, maintaining its 40th position overall. India
leads the lower middle-income group (Table 3), performing strongly in every innovation pillar except
for Infrastructure. It holds top ranking within the Central and Southern Asia region for Human
capital and research (48th), Business sophistication (57th) and Knowledge and technology outputs(22nd). Strong indicators include ICT services exports (5th), Venture capital received (6th), Graduates inscience and engineering (11th) and Global corporate R&D investors (13th).
The Islamic Republic of Iran is 2nd within the region once again, at 62nd position. It is the regional
leader in Market sophistication (19th) and Creative outputs (43rd). It performs well in Intangible
assets (13th), ranks 1st globally in Trademarks (1st) and in the top 15 worldwide in Graduates inscience and engineering (3rd), Market capitalization (5th) and Industrial designs (11th).
Kazakhstan (81st) takes over 3rd position within the region, gaining two ranks and displacing
Uzbekistan to 4th, which retains its 82nd position overall. Only Kazakhstan and Nepal (108th)
within the region go up the rankings. Kazakhstan tops in Infrastructure (59th), thanks to its good
performance in Government’s online service (8th) and E-participation (15th).
Northern Africa and Western Asia
In Northern Africa and Western Asia, Israel (14th) has made significant progress this year andconsistently leads the region as a whole. Israel stands out in various areas, holding top positionin Market sophistication (11th), Business sophistication (6th) and Knowledge and technology
outputs (5th). Furthermore, it distinguishes itself globally as the one country that allocates over
5 percent of GDP to R&D, with a remarkable expenditure of 5.6 percent in 2021.
Saudi Arabia (48th) enters the top 50, leading globally in ICT access (7th), ICT use (10th) and Policies
for doing business (16th). It also excels for its Global corporate R&D investors (16th) and for its
Global brand value (18th), thanks to leaders Aramco (oil and gas), stc (telecoms) and Al-Rajhi
Bank (banking). Oman also takes a big leap forward this year by achieving 69th place, and ranks
among the top 10 worldwide in Graduates in science and engineering (2nd) and Government
funding per pupil (9th).
An additional seven economies within the region move up the ranking, including notable
improvers Georgia (65th), Bahrain (67th), Jordan (71st) and Armenia (72nd).
Latin America and the Caribbean
In Latin America and the Caribbean, Brazil (49th) holds top position, followed by Chile (52nd),
while Mexico maintains 3rd place at 58th. Uruguay (63rd) and El Salvador (95th) are the only othercountries within the region to have improved their position this year.

Global Innovation Index 2023

Uruguay is the regional leader in Institutions (31st), Peru leads in Human capital and research(50th), Chile in Infrastructure (52nd), Brazil is top of the region for Business sophistication (39th)
and Knowledge and technology outputs (52nd), while Mexico tops in Creative outputs (45th).
Brazil (49th) climbs up five ranks this year, improving notably in the Innovation Outputs SubIndex (49th). It ranks 22nd globally for the valuation of its 16 unicorn companies, representing
1.9 percent of its GDP in 2023, thanks to leaders QuintoAndar (e-commerce), C6 Bank (fintech)and Creditas (fintech) (Box 3). It also improves in Intangible assets (31st), ranking 13th worldwide
for its Trademarks, and in Global brand value (39th), thanks to its leading banking brands, Itaú,
Bradesco and Banco do Brasil. It ranks among the top 15 globally for Government’s online
service (14th) and E-participation (11th).

Uruguay leads in the top 10 for Policies for doing business (4th), ICT services imports (5th) andexports (7th), and Operational stability for businesses (10th). El Salvador can point to its ranking
for Firms offering formal training (15th) and Trademarks (20th).

63This year, Brazil and Jamaica continue to perform above expectation for their level ofdevelopment (Table 4). Conversely, the performance status of Costa Rica (74th) has declined,
no longer meeting expectation but instead performing below expectation for its levelof development.
Sub-Saharan Africa
In Sub-Saharan Africa, only Mauritius (57th) and South Africa (59th) rank among the top 60, with
South Africa entering this group having gained two ranks since last year. Six of the region’s
other economies rank within the top 100 globally, namely, Botswana (85th), Cabo Verde (91st) –making a comeback to the GII in 2023 – Senegal (93rd), Namibia (96th), Ghana (99th) and Kenya(100th). Nine of the region’s economies move up the GII ranking, including South Africa, Senegal,
Rwanda (103rd), Togo (114th) and Mauritania (127th).
Botswana (85th) continues moving ahead, gaining one rank and retaining 2nd position within theregion. South Africa (59th) – moving ahead by two ranks and entering the top 60 – Madagascar(107th) and Burundi (130th) are also innovation overperformers this year. Other notable improvers
within the region are Nigeria (109th), Togo (114th), Benin (120th) and Guinea (128th).
Mauritius ranks highest within the region in Institutions (26th), Human capital and research(64th), Market sophistication (24th) and Creative outputs (57th). It leads worldwide in Venture
capital investors (1st) and ranks 5th in Venture capital received. Cabo Verde leads the region in
Infrastructure (64th) and performs well in indicators Gross capital formation (3rd), Expenditure
on education (13th) and FDI inflows (17th). Botswana tops in Business sophistication (56th), andperforms well in Loans from microfinance institutions (12th).
South Africa heads the region in Knowledge and technology outputs (56th), thanks to its good
performance in Software spending (28th), Patents by origin (34th), PCT patents (40th) and for thevaluation of its two unicorn companies (37th), Promasidor Holdings (consumer and retail) andCell C (mobile and telecommunications).
Finally, Senegal gains six ranks this year, improving notably in Knowledge and technology
outputs (63rd). It ranks 1st in the world for the valuation of its unicorn company Wave (fintech),sharing top place with high-income economies Estonia, Israel, Lithuania and the United States.
It also performs well in Gross capital formation (8th), Loans from microfinance institutions (10th),
FDI inflows (13th) and Venture capital received (19th).

Box 4 Innovation as the driver of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

In this context, the GII has been recognized an authoritative benchmark for measuring
innovation within the 2019 and 2021 UN General Assembly resolutions on Science, Technology
and Innovation for Sustainable Development. Events such as the eighth annual MultiStakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs (STI Forum) held thisyear in May 2023 concern the role that can be played by innovation in accelerating the postpandemic recovery.7
Looking forward, around the time of the GII launch in September 2023, an SDG Summit is due
to be convened during the High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly marking the mid-way
point in the agenda – which has seven more years to run – and to accelerate action during thelead up to 2030.8

Global Innovation Index 2023

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs), has set an ambitious agenda. While technology and innovation are a recognized key
facilitator in achieving all related targets, innovation is a specific policy target in its own right.
SDG 9 specifically targets innovation-related goals, in particular target 9.5, which promotes
increasing R&D expenditure as a proportion of GDP (9.5.1), and increasing the number of
researchers per million inhabitants (9.5.2), both of which are also important GII indicators.6

64

Conclusion
Several key insights emerge from this year’s GII report.
–––

The global innovation landscape is changing at this time of pandemic and recovery andgeopolitical upheaval, not only within the group of leading innovation economies, butmore widely. As a result, some of the changes in GII rank this year may partly reflect shortrather than longer term trends. The most notable changes to the innovation landscape areas follows:– There has been a shift within this year’s top 20 innovators, with Sweden, Singapore,
Finland, Denmark, France and Israel (in order of their ranking) moving up the ranking,and generally a strong showing by the Nordic and Baltic countries.
– There is a mixed picture for leading emerging economies, with Indonesia rising fast overrecent years, the Philippines and Viet Nam progressing again and India stable, but with
China, Türkiye and the Islamic Republic of Iran falling back slightly, possibly in part due
to recent COVID-19 induced effects.
– India, the Republic of Moldova and Viet Nam have overperformed on innovation
relative to development for a 13th year in a row, with Indonesia, Uzbekistan andPakistan maintaining the overperformer status they first achieved in 2022, and Brazil
overperforming on innovation relative to development for a third consecutive year.
– There are some systematically positive innovation ranking developments in the Middle
East, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) close to the top 30, and Saudi Arabia, Qatar,
Bahrain, Oman and other neighboring countries progressing up the rankings.
– Mauritius and South Africa are leading Sub-Sahara Africa, with solid positions in the GII
top 60, and a total of five economies within the region overperforming on innovation,with Rwanda having done so for the longest.
Similar to last year, and excepting those economies just mentioned, more middle- and lowincome economies would benefit from more a systematic and gradual improvement to the
set-up and performance of their innovation ecosystem.
Today, more than ever, pandemic impacts, downward pressure on risk capital, high interest
rates and high debt levels, together with the effects of disruption to global supply chainson nascent innovation systems in middle- and low-income economies, all need closemonitoring. This is to preserve the many positive changes that have come about over thelast two decades in terms of getting innovation systems and policies onto the agenda ofdeveloping countries’ policymakers, legislators and innovation actors. Closely monitoring
the evolution of innovation is key also in the SDG context (see Box 4).

Global Innovation Index 2023

Future editions of the GII will continue to track developments closely – and innovation
impacts, in particular – with the aim of fostering a better understanding of innovation and its
measurement. Future editions will tell us which of the GII performance changes at the country
or regional level listed above are transitory and which longer term in nature.

Notes1

It is difficult to determine whether this decline has been caused directly by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it isworth noting that approximately 93 percent of the data points used for China in this year’s model span the period
from 2020 to 2023.

2

See www.wipo.int/ipstats.

3

The study reviews the applicability of the GII framework to the development of sub-national innovation metrics. It
analyses the existing sub-national innovation indices of WIPO Member States who have pioneered this field. It also
determines which future innovation metrics are applicable to the measurement of innovation at the sub-national
level, particularly those exploiting “big data” and new computational methods. See WIPO (2023a).

4

Aileen Lee, a venture capitalist, coined the term in 2013. See: https://techcrunch.com/2013/11/02/
welcome-to-the-unicorn-club.

5

www.cbinsights.com/research-unicorn-companies.

6

https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal9.

7

https://sdgs.un.org/tfm/STIForum2023. See also the WIPO side event on the “The future of innovation-driven
growth: Will the novel Digital Age and Deep Science waves drive a global revival?,” on May 3, 2023, organized by
WIPO, Oxford University Said Business School, the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry (CNI) and thePermanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations, https://sdgs.un.org/sites/default/files/2023-05/InnovationDriven%20Growth.pdf.

8

For more on the role of intellectual property in achieving SDGs, see WIPO (2023b) and www.wipo.int/sdgs.

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Reference
WIPO (2023a, forthcoming). Enabling Innovation Measurement at the Sub-National Level: A WIPO Toolkit. Authors: Gaétan deRassenfosse (EPFL) and Sacha Wunsch-Vincent (WIPO). Geneva: WIPO, Department for Economics and Data Analytics.

Global Innovation Index 2023

WIPO (2023b), Intellectual Property Offices and Sustainable Innovation: Implementing the SDGs in National Intellectual
Property Systems. Geneva: World Intellectual Property Organization. Available at: www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipopub-rn2023-10-en-intellectual-property-offices-and-sustainable-innovation.pdf.